Button-feeding mechanism.



C. F. RICHARDSON.

BUTTON FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLlCATlON FILED JULY 7. 1915.

Patented Nov. 7', 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET K.

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C. F. RlCHARDSONf BUTTON FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLlCATlON FILED JULY B1915.

Patented Nov. *2, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES A TTOR/VEYS c. F. RICHARDSON.

BUTTON FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 7. I9I5.

1 204,067.. Patented Nov. 7,1916.

.3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

S III IIIII WITNESSES INVENTOR Cf/FJa/zazdson A TTOR/VEYS TINTTEE STATESPATENT @FFTCE.

CHARLES F. RICHARDSON, OF WOONSOGKET, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO RAPIDBUTTON ATTACHING MACHINE 00., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEWYORK.

BUTTON-FEEDING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. *7, 1916.

Application filed J'u1y'7, 1915. Serial No. 38,587.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. RICHARD- 'soN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of /Voonsocket, in the county of Providence andState of Rhode Island, have invented a new and Improved Button Feed ingMechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescriptien.

This invention relates to a button feeding mechanism, and morepartici'llarly to means for picking up buttons and supplying them in adefinite manner to a feeding chute which delivers the buttons one at atime to a suitable attaching mechanism, whereby buttons are attached tothe uppers of a shoe or other article.

The invention has for its general object to improve and simplify theconstruction of button pick-up devices so as to be reliable andefficient in use, comparatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture,and so designed as not to readily get out of adjustment.

A further object of the invention is the provision in connection with abutton hopper having a vertically reciprocatory pickup device, of meansfor insuring the pro-per flow of the buttons from the said device to thebutton feeding chute, such means being a clearing or anti-cloggingelement which is operated simultaneously with the pick-up device forpreventing the clogging of buttons at the top of the chute where thedevice supplies them to the latter.

With such objects in view, and others which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention comprises various novel features ofconstruction and arrangement of parts which will be set forth withparticu larity in the following description and claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of theinvention and wherein similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views, Figure 1 is a side View of abutton attaching machine having the invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 isan enlarged view, partly in sec tion, of the button hopper pick-up demosand anti-clogging means; Fig. 3 1s a plan view of the structure shown inFig. 2'; Figs.

4 and 5 are detail sectional views on the lines 4L4 and '55,respectively, Fig. 2;

Fig. '6 is a transverse section of the hopper with the pick-up device init's lowermost position and Fig.

7 is a perspective view of the pick-up device.

I Referring to the drawing, A designates a button holding hopper inwhich vertically reclprocates a pick-up device B which moves up and downthrough a mass of buttons contalned in the hopper and picks up one ormore buttons to discharge them in a pre determined position to a feedchute 0 down which the buttons flow by gravity to the attachingmechanism of the machine, such mechanism not being disclosed herein, asit forms no part of the present invention. The hopper is a suitablyshaped receptacle having a bottom 1 which slopes laterally from the sidewall 2 to the opposite side wall 8, and also slopes rearwardly from thefront portion f to the rear wall 5. The top of the hopper is normallyclosed by a door 6 which swings on a horizontal pintle 7 attached to thefront of the hopper. At the rear lowermost portion of the hopper is an"opening 8 which is closed by a door 9 that is adapted to open when thehopper is to be discharged of its contents. The hopper is carried by theupper rear portion of the chute C, and in the bottom of the hopper is anopening 10 through which the pick-up device B reciprocates, such devicebeing located adjacent to a side wall 3.

The pick-up device B is a vertically disposed plate of approximatelysegmental form and it is provided with a forwardly extending arm 11which extends forwardly into the chute C, where it is pivoted at 12 tothe chute, the rear edge 13 of the chute being concentric with the pivot12, as is also the forward edge of the pick-up device, the rear edge ofthe pick-up device being curved to conform to the rear curved wall 5 ofthe hopper. In the top edge of the pickup device is a longitudinalchannel or 'roove 14 the ed 'es of which are beveled at 15, so that theeyes or shanks 16 of the shoe or other buttons 17 can enter the channel,while the heads will rest on the top edge of the pick-up device atopposite sides of the channel, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1. Thischannel 14; alines with the slot 18 in the top edge of the chute C, sothat the buttons can flow by gravity off the pick-up device into thechute, the upper portion of the latter extending into the hopper, asclearly shown in Figs. 2 and The pickup device is reciprocated by alever 19 fulcrumed at 20 on the frame D of the machine, and on the freeend of the lever is a pin 21 which engages in a slot 22 so disposed inthe bottom of the pick-up device that, as the lever oscillates, thepick-up device will swing up and down around the pivot 12 as a center.The lever 19 is operated by a pedal, not shown, which operates thebutton attaching mechanism, the pedal serving to move upwardly a. rod 23in the pillar 24 of the machine, which rod is connected through a lever25, a link 26. connected arms 27 and 28, and a link 29, with the lever19. The operating connections between the rod 23 and the attachingmechanism are not shown, as they are unnecessary to an understanding ofthe present invention.

To prevent buttons from clogging the upper or receiving portion of thechute C, an anti-clogging or clearing device E is employed. Thiscomprises a kick-0H or finger 30 which is fulcrumed in the upper part ofthe chute C and swings upwardly from the full-line position, Fig. 2, tothe dotted-line position. The extremity 31 should move back and forth inthe slot 18. This finger swings on a center 32 so located that when thefinger is in forward or lowered position, as shownby full lines, thebuttons can freely pass down the chute, but when the finger movesupwardly it kicks off any buttons which may be lodged on the upperportion of the chute disposed in the hopper. The pivot 32 of this lingerhas fastened thereto an arm 33 which is disposed outside the chute andhopper, and on the pivot is a coiled spring 34 having one end 35 engagedwith a pin 36 on the arm 33, whereby the spring tends to throw the arm33 downwardly and the finger 30 upwardly from the full to the dottedline position, Fig. The clearing or kick-off device E is operated in theopposite direction by an arm 37 which has one end fastened to the pivot12 on which the pick-up device swings, and the other end of the arm orlever 37 is provided with a laterally extending pin 89 that engagesunder the arm 33 so as to release the latter as the pick-up deviceascends. Above that portion of the chute C in which the clearing finger30 operates is a beveled abutment 40 so as to deflect those buttonswhich may attempt to feed down the chute while they are supported onother buttons. The bottom of this deflecting abutment 40 is disposedsufficiently above the top edge of the chute C that a single line ofbuttons can freely pass thereunder. Just below the abutment 40 anopening 41 is provided in the front of the hopper so that the buttonscan pass out from the latter and flow down the chute O. The portion ofthe chute behind the opening 41 is beveled at 42 so that those buttonswhich do not have their shanks entered in the channel 14 of the pickglechannel and the top edge of the device 7 is comparatively narrow, allthe buttons that are properly picked up will be in a line and flow intothe chute when the pick-up device reaches its uppermost position, asshown in Fig. 2, where the top edge is considerably inclined to insurethe ready flow of the buttons.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, the advantages of the construction and method of operationwill be readily understood by those skilled in the art to which theinvention appertains, and while I have described the principle ofoperation, together with the device which I now consider to be the bestembodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the device shownis merely illustrative and that such changes may be made when desired asfall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. A button feeding mechanism comprising a chute having a slot forreceiving the shanks of buttons, a pick-up device having a channeladapted to aline with the slot of the chute, a hopper in which thepick-up device is mounted, means for actuating the pick-up device tocause the shanks of buttons in the hopper to engage in the channel ofthe pick-up device, said hopper having an outlet for permitting buttonsto flow down the chute, a swinging finger movable L back and forth inthe slot of the chute to prevent clogging at the outlet of the hopper,and means foroperating the finger simultaneously with the pick-updevice.

2. A button feeding mechanism comprising a chute having a slot forreceiving the shanks of buttons, a pick-up device movable curvilinearlyin a vertical plane from a point below to a point above a horizontal andhaving a channel adapted to aline with the slot of the chute, a hopperin which the pick-up device is mounted, means for actuating the pick-updevice to cause the shanks of buttons in the hopper to engage in thechannel of the pickup device, said hopper having an outlet forpermitting buttons to flow down the chute, a swinging finger movableback and forth in .the upper part of the slot of the chute to preventclogging of the ating the finger as the pick-up device operates.

3. A button feeding mechanism comprising a chute having a slot forreceiving the shanks of buttons, a pick-up device having a channeladapted to aline with the slot of the chute, a hopper in which thepick-up device is mounted, means for actuating the pick-up device tocause the shanks of buttons in the hopper to engage in the channel ofthe pick-up device, said hopper having an outlet for permitting buttonsto flow down the chute, a swinging finger movable back and forth in theupper part of the slot of the chute to prevent clogging of the outlet ofthe hopper, a spring means operating on the finger to move the same inone direction, and connecting means between the pick-up device andfinger for moving the latter in the other direction.

4. A button feeding mechanism comprising a chute having a slot forreceiving the shanks of buttons, a pick-up device having a channeladapted to aline with the slot of the chute, a hopper in which thepick-up device is mounted, means for actuating the pick-up device tocause the shanks of buttons in the hopper to engage in the channel ofthe pick-up device, said hopper having an outlet for permitting buttonsto flow down the chute, a swinging finger movable back and forth in theupper part of the slot of the chute to prevent clogging of the outlet ofthe hopper, a spring actuated arm for moving the finger in onedirection, and an arm connected with the pick-up device and having awiping engagement with the firstmentioned arm for moving the finger inthe opposite direction.

5. A button feeding mechanism comprising a hopper, a chute leadingtherefrom and having a slot, a plate movable vertically in the hopperfrom the bottom to the top thereof, and vice versa, the top edge of theplate being grooved to receive the shanks of buttons and carrying thelatter upwardly toward the top of the hopper, whereby buttons slide intothe chute, a device movable upwardly into the path of the buttons anddownwardly therefrom at the upper portion of the chute for preventingclogging of the buttons, and a deflector disposed over the chute forpreventing buttons discharged from the plate from being supported one ontop of another.

6. A button feeding mechanism comprising a hopper, a chute on which thehopper is mounted and for receiving buttons from the latter, avertically movable pick-up plate disposed in the hopper and pivotallyconnected with the chute at a point outside the hopper, means foractuating the pick-up device, and means actuated by the pick-up devicefor preventing buttons from clogging the outlet of the hopper and upperpart of the chute.

7. A button feeding mechanism comprising a chute, a hopper mounted onthe chute and having the upper receiving portion of the latter disposedtherein, a reciprocatory plate having an arm extending into the chuteand pivotally connected with the latter, the upper edge of the platebeing longitudinally grooved to receive the shanks of buttons, means foractuating the plate, a finger movable back and forth for preventing theclogging of buttons on the upper portion of the chute, an arm connectedwith the finger, an arm connected with the pivot of the pick-up deviceto move with the latter, said arms being interengaged for moving thefirst arm by the second, and means acting on the finger to impart returnmovement thereto.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES F. RICHARDSON.

Witnesses:

ROY J. SOULER, AUSTIN M. WILSON..

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G.

